Dead Elm for firewood?

[Kyle241]

Only yesterday I was bringing down standing dead elm. I find the wood burns very nicely and I like to leave them standing until the bark has fallen off and it 'air dries'. You can split it with a maul when it's in this condition however the real big pieces may have you smacking them 3-4 times. I bought a Fiskars maul only yesterday as I'm still on the fence about buying a splitter but I do really need one. I have a lot of dead elm on my property and will continue to bring more down today. I leave mostly dead/dying butternut for the wildlife to make homes in. I find these days, the elm, ash and butternut are all dying...kinda sad.

 

[Baby Grand]

Haymaker - that first photo reminds me of what my Grandma used to point to when we were in her car and call, in a nostalgic tone, a "wineglass" elm because of it's shape. Handsome looking tree.

Others have mentioned it's toughness. In A Reverence for Wood, Eric Sloane says that it was used to make ships blocks, wheel hubs and yokes.

 

[radioman]

Same here- I burn alot of elm. most of it is already right size to burn without splitting due to dutch elm disease that kils the tree within 10-15 years. Just observe your state transporting rules and you will be fine. The elm that is too big, Don't even think of using a hand splitter. You are going to spend more time trying to split it, use a gas powered one and you will be fine.
good luck and burn it!!! great stuff to burn!:thumbsup:

 

[Skyco]

If it's standing dead, or recently down, I'll burn it...really doesn't matter what kind of wood it is...it all burns if dried properly:thumbsup:

Exactly! While there are preferred woods to burn, I burn it all in my fireplace insert. Been burning a lot of poplar, had several fall down, they don't make good coals or give a lot of heat but I'm not gonna let em lay there and rot.

 

[RichZ]

I cut up and burn just about any wood that falls on my farm. Standing dead wood is important for wildlife, especially woodpeckers. But once it falls, I cut it up. Anything will burn, and I heat my house exclusively with wood, so I burn any hardwood that falls. And I cut up pine into slivers for kindling. Even if it only gives me a few minutes of heat, it's free heat. Right now, I'm burning some sumac wood in my woodstove. It burns hot and fast, so you have to keep feeding it, but my woodstove is in the next room from my computer, so I'm nearby and have the time to do it. I save similar wood to burn for when I'm near the stove, and have the time to keep feeding it. I only have 10 acres, so I only supplement my wood supply with fallen wood from my property. I buy most of my wood, and that's mainly oak, maple and ash, so I supplement that with whatever falls on my property. It's free heat.

 

[jimmyj]

I cut the elms (American) the moment they die from Dutch Elm Disease. The stuff can be split by hand in the winter if it's frozen but the splitter is a gift from God with this wood.

I like burning it, I also feel it helps slow the disease from spreading but that's probably just me rationalizing. When we bought our place there were nice big elms all over the place. I thought about trying to save them and read up but gave up. Apparently they are naturally immune until they get to be about 20 years and then the disease gets them.

Too bad, great trees.

 

[jymbee]

Great input-- thanks to all who replied!

Just started burning the 1st pickup load of elm I cut. Burns quite well indeed. Not as dense as the oaks and hard maples of course, but more dense than poplar. Probably closer to the soft maples. But as others pointed out, no reason at all not to burn it especially given that there's quite a bit of it on our property.

Had to laugh reading about splitting elm. Some time ago I cut down a fairly large elm tree for a neighbor. Having split wood with a maul for many years I figured I'd demonstrate my splitting expertise. Stood up a piece about 18 inches tall and a foot across. Calculated the best place for the impact then lifted the maul and gave it a mighty WHACK! Welllll... if you looked really close you could just about make out the small dent where the maul hit. Quite humbling indeed.

 

[SPYDERLK]

"One-Hoss Shay." by Oliver Wendell Holmes

 

[CJBOTA]

When I was young I uesd to wait till the dead of winter and split elm logs with an axe. Nowadays , just put it up on the splitter and drive your way thru it, It is very stringy but it burns great. And there is plenty of it.

 

[jymbee]

When I was young I used to wait till the dead of winter and split elm logs with an axe. Nowadays , just put it up on the splitter and drive your way thru it, It is very stringy but it burns great. And there is plenty of it.

My Dad was a very good ax splitter. Definitely an art and one I never really was any good at preferring the much less artful brute force method of a splitting maul or "go-devil" as we call 'em around here.

Split 7 tractor trailer loads one season by hand. Had to be dragged kicking and screaming to use a hydraulic splitter, but after a few weeks of using that machine I finally saw the light.